I say......
Oh yes I did, I just snuffed the mighty Southern Cal Trojans from my top 25. USC is a big, and I mean big, name in college football and has been a consensus top five team every season for about seven years. That was until last year, last was a good season by most peoples standards, but for USC an 8 win season is child's play. The Trojans were down, pure and simple, a year that saw a freshman starting at QB for the first time in school history and a rebuilding defense. Most people could expect a down year from such a team but USC had posted ten wins in numerous similar seasons this decade. All four losses came in PAC-10 play, USC apparently didn't foresee that the PAC-10 wouldn't suck forever, and that eventually other teams in their conference would be capable of beating them without it being a monumental upset. If you thought last season was the shit hitting the fan in LA, I have bad news for you, there's a whole outhouse flying at the fan this season.
There was one constant in all of the Trojans PAC-10 champion seasons this decade: head coach Pete Caroll. He is gone now, off to coach the Seahawks for some reason, and the master of the uncetain, Lane Kiffin, is his replacement. Kiffin has been good and terrible at various points in his career but most recently was simply average at Tennessee and simply average will not get the job done in LA. The coaching swap is only half the reason I am down on this team, the big reason is Bush-gate. Stripped of wins, and completely banned from postseason play for the next two seasons, there is a not a whole lot to play for in LA and many players have already decided to tranfer. No one major has left, but the fact is, if the Trojans are not in position to win the conference near the end of the season, there will wuite literally be nothing to play for. With Oregon the clear favorite in the PAC-10, and as many as five other teams thought of as potential contenders, there will be a decent chance that the Trojans could give up before November.
That being said, this is USC, there is more than enough talent to win double digit games. Matt Barkely is the staron a rebuilding offense and should be markedly better with a season of experience behind him. The running game is suspect, Kiffin is strongly opposed to a running back by committee type of attack, and you could argue as many as five RB's were the top guy last season. Whoever is picked as "the guy" will be in the role for the first time. Top WR, Damian Williams is gone as well. The starters on the line all have experience as should be fine, but there is little depth behind them.
The defense should be among the best in the conference, especially up front, where the line is very strong and the linebackers are even better. The worry is the secondary, where USC returns no starters against a pass happy PAC-10. There is hope though, Monte Kiffin is one of the best defensive co-ordinators in the country, is now in the fold after coming over with his son Lane.
The schedule is a PAC-10 schedule, but the out of conference schedule is very light compared to recent season. The annual Notre Dame game is there but Hawaii is a rollover, annd Minnesota and Virginia figure to be two of the worst big six programs in the country. Washington and Oregon both must go into the collesium, but the rest of the good programs they will play on the road.
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